"I'm hanging around en route to Paris" - Maggie MacNeil confirms she will stay at LSU for 2024 Paris Olympics training
Maggie MacNeil has the potential to become one of the best swimmers of the next decade. She has already made her mark on the world stage with some fantastic performances now and then.
On March 19, 2023, Maggie announced that she would continue to train at LSU to prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics despite her college career coming to an end. She posted a couple of photos and wrote,
"huge thank you to @lsuswimdive for making this year the best, but don’t worry, you aren’t getting rid of me yet, as I’m hanging around en route to Paris"
In the rest of the caption, Maggie MacNeil wrote about her season and thanked her friends. The Canadian swimmer wrote,
"Officially a college swammer 🥺 well, I definitely ended on my terms. despite the slippery deck, proud to report that there were no broken elbows this year, but I did break 2 pairs of goggles 😂 but on a serious note, going 2 best times this meet was more than I could have asked for! And I’m honoured to have been part of some historic races 🤩"
"Now, I’ve got just over a week to refocus for the long pool international season 😅And lastly, congrats to all my swammer friends 🥹 so grateful this sport brought us together (@_vkwan_ , @kat.brathwaite ) and Dover (@alliekleinn )"
The announcement by Maggie of her stay at LSU means that she will continue to train under her longtime head coach Rick Bishop. This will also pave the way for her to make full-fledged preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Maggie MacNeil's journey after she started training under Rick Bishop
Maggie began swimming for Rick during the 2018-2019 NCAA season. During that season, the Canadian swimmer was a freshman at the University of Michigan and Rick Bishop was the assistant coach.
She continued her practice under Rick until the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Her first important victory while training under Rick Bishop was during the 100-meter butterfly event at the 2019 World Championships when she defeated Swedish legend Sarah Sjostrom to win the gold medal.
Maggie MacNeil then won the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She also won a silver medal and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Rick Bishop was named the head coach of the Louisiana State University swim team in June 2021, according to SwimSwam. During this time, Maggie spent her season in Michigan without Rick.
During that NCAA season, Maggie MacNeil suffered a few setbacks by being off her best times in events and also missed out on the 'A' final of the 100 freestyle. This was not the only setback for the Canadian swimmer as she injured her elbow after the conclusion of the NCAAs.
This forced the talented swimmer to withdraw from individual events at the World Championships. Then, around June 2022, Maggie announced her intentions to use her fifth year at Louisiana State University to reunite with Rick Bishop, according to SwimSwam. Maggie MacNeil had a successful season in her final NCAA Championships. She finished first in the 50-yard freestyle by clocking a time of 20.79.
In the 100-yard butterfly event, Maggie finished in second place with a time of 48.51. MacNeil finished third in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.58. Her contributions were crucial to LSU finishing in 13th place at the 2023 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.